Product Director-Email Products (email and push messaging systems)
The New York Times seeks a passionate, experienced product manager for its email team.
Email is an inherently personal medium, and The Times has millions of readers who invite us into their inboxes each day. The Times has long had a reputation for delivering innovative storytelling on our web site and in our apps, and we want someone who can come in and help drive forward that culture of innovation on our email and messaging products, too.
In this role that reaches across the organization, you will:
- Oversee the product team that develops the email and push messaging systems that the Times uses to reach millions of readers each day.
- Set an ambitious product vision for how our newsletters can guide our readers to get the most out of their Times experience, drive engagement and move readers down the funnel from reader to subscriber.
- Work closely with colleagues in the newsroom, marketing, advertising, design, product and technology to design, develop and launch individual newsletters, as well as making sure that we’re building the tools and systems we need to support a robust portfolio of innovative messaging products.
It’s a job that requires someone who can connect the dots across the business, and who can help turn the editorial vision of the newsroom into compelling email products that also drive the business forward.
You ideally have …
- Strong experience in product management. You have led cross-functional product, design and technology teams and can vigilantly prioritize in a rapidly-changing environment. You are versed in the best practices in agile product development.
- An ability to problem solve in a highly collaborative culture. You are in your element at the intersection of editorial, technology, design and business. You work easily with colleagues to define and implement innovative solutions to complex problems and competing priorities.
- A user-first mindset. You understand the importance of user research, data, testing and judgment in the product development process. You help the team evolve and optimize features and functionality by always advocating for what is best for the user. You’ll rely on a healthy balance between data-driven and user-centric design and decision-making.
- A love of email newsletters. You understand the unique opportunities email presents, whether it’s delivering a newsletter that clearly and succinctly sums up the news of the day for a mass audience, or a personalized email that speaks to the needs of an individual reader.
You will ….
- Own the overall product plan and roadmap. Working closely with senior leadership in product and design, create clear annual and quarterly plans, incorporating input from all stakeholders, that depict how the strategy will achieve the group’s goals.
- Partner with editors and reporters in the newsroom, as well as designers and engineers, to develop strategies for producing content in more innovative ways. Work closely with the newsroom, marketing and advertising to ensure all opportunities are being evaluated, tested and executed.
- Collaborate with product designers and researchers to conduct user research, wireframe and prototype newsletters or messaging features.
- Define and put in place metrics and systems to track product performance. Clearly communicate performance and use data to evaluate and prioritize the roadmap, as well as educating newsroom users how to interpret the results.
- Be the product evangelist. Own all product communication with senior leadership on current insights and emerging trends, as well as championing the vision to the other teams and groups within the company.
- Understand the workflow needs the journalists who create and produce email newsletters, and how they impact our team initiatives in the short-term and long-term. Develop a strategy for the creation and publishing capabilities that our email content management systems should support. Identify inefficient process in the current workflows, and identify tools to automate or streamline them.
- Contribute to a culture of collaboration across all disciplines.
Qualifications
- 5+ years of product management experience, with email systems at scale
- Strong understanding of the business model levers that drive an advertising and subscription business
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and in person.
- Strong technical background with an excellent grasp of the engineering challenges and core technologies that drive a media business
- Strong knowledge of product and software development techniques and agile methodologies
- Experience steering software developers and product designers
- Excellent analytical skills with strong user empathy and awareness driven by qualitative research methods
Real passion for The Times’s mission and a commitment to be a part of our innovation and growth